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Union Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri on Saturday said the ONGC's deepwater drilling in the Mahanadi Offshore Basin marks the beginning of an ambitious programme to unlock the country's offshore hydrocarbon potential and strengthen energy security.
In a post on X, Puri said he had virtually spudded ONGC's exploratory well MN-DW18-1-H-D under the Samudra Manthan mission. He described it as a major milestone in India's efforts to explore deep and ultra-deepwater energy resources and said the campaign aligns with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of tapping the country's untapped offshore oil and gas reserves. "India's next energy frontier is deep waters," Puri said. He added that the campaign is among the country's most challenging deepwater exploration efforts and that every prospect evaluated, well drilled and discovery made would help boost domestic production, reduce import dependence and strengthen energy security. According to the Petroleum Ministry, the well is the first of four planned deepwater wells to systematically evaluate the Mahanadi Offshore Basin using advanced drilling technology to unlock new hydrocarbon resources. The ministry said India's eastern and western offshore basins, extending to water depths of up to 3,000 metres, are estimated to hold over 5,600 million metric tonnes of oil equivalent (MMTOE) of hydrocarbon potential. It added that recent exploration successes in the Cauvery, Mahanadi and Andaman basins have strengthened prospects for offshore energy development. The ministry said the programme builds on reforms introduced over the past decade, including the Hydrocarbon Exploration and Licensing Policy (HELP), the Open Acreage Licensing Programme (OALP) and the opening of nearly 99 per cent of the erstwhile offshore "No-Go" areas for exploration. It said the campaign is expected to boost domestic hydrocarbon production and strengthen India's long-term energy security. (ANI)
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